


'Til they're before your eyes

by mac_andcheeses



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M, do yourself a favour and just don't read this tbh, it's a mess, jolex, pandemic fic, post 16x16
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:14:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29239653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mac_andcheeses/pseuds/mac_andcheeses
Summary: [Requested Fic]Unfortunate circumstances bring him home but a different reason makes him stay
Relationships: Alex Karev/Jo Wilson
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24
Collections: The Group Chat's Fics





	'Til they're before your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> BASED ON THE ASK: "Hi, would you mind writing a fic where alex comes back later because Meredith is sick and reunites with Jo someway?"
> 
> i’ve had this request in my inbox for months now and i wasn’t going to write it but macs life went a bit pear shaped this last twenty-four hours and so this was actually really satisfying to write. probably the worst fic i’ve ever written in terms of the way it flows and joins together but i think that’s really representative of how my brain looks right now
> 
> rip my sanity

It didn’t feel like Seattle; it didn’t feel like home at all. Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital is, and will always be, where Alex belonged. But, with the pandemic having altered each and every corner of the walls, it didn’t feel like home anymore. It felt like his worst nightmare. 

“She opened her eyes long enough to facetime the kids yesterday,” Bailey appeared by his side. 

The day he’d written the letters, was the day he’d come to the terms with the fact that he may never hear from his friends again. He’d done something so cowardly and unforgivable, and he was going to hate himself for the rest of his life because of it. He wouldn’t have blamed anyone for wanting to cut him out of their lives completely. And yet, the woman he’d assumed was going to be the most angry at him, his old mentor, was also the first person to reach out to him. If only it was under better circumstances. 

Alex was a pediatric surgeon; he could deal with grim; he was an expert on complicated medical situations. But he will never get used to seeing one of his own in that hospital bed, especially not somebody like Meredith. She looked lifeless, pale and drawn. He hadn’t seen her looking this bad since the ferry boat accident all those years ago. Not after the plane crash, or when she was attacked by Lou. Nothing else compared to how she looked now. 

“That’s not Meredith; she’s cadaverous. It’s like she’s not even in there anymore,” he looked to his side at Bailey, briefly taking his attention away from his old co-workers working on Meredith through the window. Her condition had gotten significantly worse overnight, with her heart starting to face the brunt of the virus invading her body. Her body was getting weaker; more fragile, and she was struggling to continue her fight. Thus, Alex had gotten a call from Bailey at two o’clock in the morning ordering him to get on the first flight back to Seattle. 

“She needs surgery,” Teddy confirmed his suspicions, her face full of pity and worry. 

He tried to focus on what she was saying, the details of the procedure Meredith needed, but he couldn’t. Instead, his focus was drawn to a black leather bag Levi Schmitt disappeared around the corner carrying. A bag Alex had picked out himself just a few months before. A bag that most definitely belonged to Jo. 

“Alex,” Bailey said sternly, “we need you to approve both surgeries.” 

“Huh?” he narrowed his eyes, confusingly. “I thought she only needed one surgery.” 

“No, she needs two. We just went over this,” Maggie chimed in at the side, visibly frustrated by Alex’s wandering attention. “Doctor Altman is going to go in to separate the fused flap and repair the valve which, if successfully, would avoid the need for a transplant. But it’s not just her heart, Alex. It’s her kidney too, and a repair isn’t an option here. She needs a transplant.” 

“Who’s doing it?” he asked frantically. 

“I am,” Bailey rested a hand against his upper arm, attempting to calm the nerves showing through. “I’ve got this.” 

He trusted her, he really did. Alex owed Bailey so much in life and more. But the success of a transplant didn’t just come down to one person, there were more people involved. “I want Jo on the procurement,” he insisted firmly. “There’s no room for mistakes.” 

“That’s not possible,” Bailey was quick to shut down his demands.

“I don’t care if she hates me with every fibre of her being, I would expect nothing less. But please, Bailey, just ask her for me. I don’t trust anyone but her to do this,” he pleaded, running his clammy hands through his hair. 

“It’s not because she won’t do it because I’m sure she would if she could,” Bailey looked between both Teddy and Maggie for some sort of backup or help. “She’s unavailable,” she hesitated before speaking again, “Jo is out of town.” 

Except he knew that wasn't even the slightest bit true. Alex had just seen Levi carrying her belongings through the hallway, so she couldn’t be far away. 

“Hey, you!” he stepped in the path of a passing resident, “page Doctor Karev, right now.” 

“I don’t understand, sorry,” the young surgeon furrowed their brow.

“Ignore him,” Bailey pressed her lips together. 

“Karev, Wilson, whatever. Just page her,” he disregarded Bailey’s opposition. 

“But she’s on maternity leave.” 

  
  


*******

  
  


This was the last thing he expected to be doing when he’d gone to bed the night before. He and Izzie had plans to take the twins bowling, their once a week family activity that the two of them had agreed to. Instead, he flew across the country to act as Meredith’s power of attorney, approving surgeries that were supposed to save her life and found out his ex-wife had given birth. Now, standing opposite the loft door he’d repaired and reinstalled himself, he was hesitant to knock.  _ What if she didn’t want to see him? _

He waited, listening in to Jo quietly humming behind the door, singing the same song that had been stuck in her head since the day they’d met. He almost walked away, afraid of what would come of seeing her again, when he heard it; a faint cry of a baby. It drowned out the hums, filling the loft for a minute or so until the small baby started to settle, Jo’s soft shush heard instead.

Before he had even built up the courage to knock, the door slid open before him. She was shocked to see him, to say the least, staring wide-eyed back at him. Her hair was clearly unwashed and unbrushed, pulled back into a messy bun, but she still looked as radiant as ever. She was wearing one of his old t-shirts, far too long for her short torso, but it brought a slight smile to his face. He’d honestly just assumed that the top had been ripped apart and burnt when it didn’t arrive in Kansas with the rest of his belongings. 

“Alex,” Jo stuttered, swallowing constantly as she anxiously played with the ring on her finger. Not her wedding ring, that was gone, but a new ring he’d never seen before. 

“Hi,” he responded, unsure what else to say. “I’m here for Meredith.”

“Then you’re a bit lost because you won’t find her here.” 

“No,” Alex racked his brain for words to say, his mind working overdrive. “I mean, that’s why I’m in Seattle. I needed to be here because I’m still her emergency contact. She needed a kidney transplant.” 

Jo blinked, taken back by the news of Meredith’s worsening conditioning. “I was told she was improving.” 

“She took a turn, but it’s okay, she pulled through,” Alex sensed Jo’s worry. He’d stuck around until the end of both procedures, unwilling to abandon Meredith when she needed him most. However, the moment she’d been wheeled into recovery, he’d driven directly to the loft. “But, before the surgery, I asked to have you on the case. I saw glasses carrying your bag through the hallway and thought you were on shift. I wanted somebody I could trust to help,” he paused, taking in the changes she’d made to the loft. He couldn’t see a baby, much to his disappointment, but even an idiot couldn’t miss the signs that one lived there. The drying rack on the kitchen counter was stacked to the brim with bottles, and a pile of half folded laundry was filled with onesies and muslin blankets. The living room, which was previously just a couch and a coffee table, had been transformed to accommodate a young child. A large mat was spread across the floor with a bouncer sitting to the side. Alex also couldn’t help but notice how a majority of items, down to burping cloth clutched in Jo’s hand, were pink.

“Except, I was told you were unavailable,” he added, looking to the floor in guilt and shame. 

“Yeah,” Jo lent forward to retrieve a bag that was sitting outside of the door, the same bag which Alex had seen Levi carrying earlier. “I left my bag at work before I went on break so I got someone to drop it back to me,” she explained. “I’m not working at the moment, though. I won’t be for a while.” 

“Jo,” he sighed heavily, lifting his head to lock eyes. “I know about her. I know about our daughter.” 

There was a sudden change in her demeanor, Jo breaking eye contact almost immediately. They were the last words she expected to hear from him, and yet, she was also slightly relieved to hear him say them. Alex could see her squeezing her fist tighter around the cloth she was holding, blinking slowly, and biting her lip anxiously. She wasn’t just stressed, she was nervous. All he wanted to do was pull her in his embrace to calm her apprehension. It was looking as if they were going to stand in silence forever, neither of them knowing what to say to one another, but she surprised him by speaking first. 

“Daughters,” she scratched uneasily at her skin, “We have daughters. Twins.” 

  
  


*******

  
  


_ Five years later... _

“Is he here?” the Jo look-alike squealed, her chocolate coloured hair bouncing as she skipped down each and every step to the front entrance. 

Piper Karev was a rambunctious kid, definitely taking on more of Alex’s characteristics, despite being the spitting image of her mother. She was argumentative and determined to push the boundaries, but she also knew when and where to pick her battles. Anybody who met her would describe her as energetic and outgoing, which was the nice way of saying she talked a lot. Piper very much enjoyed being the centre of attention, commanding the eyes of every person she surrounds herself with. She believed that rules were made to be broken and, since the moment she could hold her head up on her own, she had made it her life mission to prove it so. 

“We were told to wait upstairs!” Alexis perched at the top of the landing, unimpressed by her younger sister's complete disregard of instructions. 

Alex chuckled, amused by the juxtaposition between Piper, the little troublemaker who shared Jo and Alex’s free-spirited and spunky attitude, and Alexis, who could be as no-nonsense and sensible as her mother tended to be at times. 

“It’s okay, Lex,” he reassured her, “you can all come down.” 

“But is he here, or not?” Piper whined, growing impatient with the lack of excitement. “Auntie Mer said that mommy was coming home with baby brother.” 

Meredith appeared on the staircase at the mention of her name, still dressed head to toe in the pajamas she’d rolled out of bed wearing when he’d called her the night before. She’d insisted that she be called to babysit the second Jo went into labour, desperate to make up for missing the girls’ birth. It wasn’t her fault, not even in the slightest, hell Alex wasn’t even there. If anything, Alex was just grateful that Meredith had forgotten to remove him as her POA and gave him a reason to be in Seattle that day. 

Isla was hugged tight to Meredith’s side, being carried down the stairs as Eli followed closely behind. Her long blonde locks were tangled around yesterday’s hair bow and she was wearing a Cinderella dress over the top of her pajamas. Unlike her mischievous sister, Isla was sweet and calm, and looked identical to Alex’s sister Amber. She was bubbly and incredibly charming, and whilst not as feisty as Piper, still rather ambitious and driven. She was the first of the two that Alex had held in his arms, her tiny body snuggling against his chest straight away. She was always the most affectionate of the two, so gentle in nature. 

“Yes, the baby is home,” Alex confirmed, his heart warming at the sight of his daughter’s matching grins; Alexis, Piper and Isla looked like mirror images. “Take a seat on the floor, and mommy will bring him inside, okay?”

Together, Meredith and Alex convinced the rather excitable five and ten year olds to sit somewhat still on the floor. Piper, having no interest in potentially missing out on an important moment, was slowly inching herself further away from her siblings and closer to the door. 

“Okay kids,” Alex helped Jo through the front door, exchanging an eager smile as he took the baby carrier off her to place on the ground, “this is your new baby brother.” 

“His name is Gray,” Jo announced, beaming warmly in her friend's direction. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: @mac-andcheeses


End file.
